Computer-aided method of transmitting teaching materials

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method of transmitting teaching materials by means of an electronic data network, wherein a person to be taught is first shown the teaching material on a client computer system. After the teaching material has been displayed, the person to be taught has the possibility of undergoing a test on the displayed teaching material. The invention also describes a computer network with a server computer system as well as a server computer system.

[0001] The invention relates to a method of transmitting teachingmaterials. The invention further relates to a computer network and to aserver computer system.

[0002] A main application of computers is the exchange of informationvia a network. The largest computer network at this moment is theInternet. The Internet is an electronic data network with a large numberof connected computers and computer networks. The connected computerscan exchange data with one another by means of a service, for examplethe World Wide Web (“WWW”).

[0003] The architecture of the WWW corresponds to the conventionalclient-server model. The terms “client” and “server” define the actualfunction of a computer. The client computer requests data whereas aserver computer supplies data. Thus the WWW service enables a servercomputer, for example a web server, to send a graphic web page as apiece of information to a connected client computer. A web page mayeither be a data block or a document which is written in a hypertextlanguage such as the Hyper Text Markup Language (“HTML”) and which maycontain texts, graphic displays, and multimedia objects.

[0004] Each computer and each web page of the WWW is unequivocallyidentifiable by means of a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”). To indicatea given web page, the client computer specifies the URL of this page inthe form of a request, for example as a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol(“HTTP”) request. This request is passed on to the web server thatsupports this web page. Upon receiving the request, the web server sendsthe web page to the client computer. The client computer then displaysthis web page by means of a browser. A browser is a special applicationprogram which processes requests for web pages and the display of webpages.

[0005] Many web servers have been developed by now in the World WideWeb, by means of which traders and manufacturers advertise products andservices and can also sell them. The product range varies from goodssuch as music, which are electronically supplied to the customer via theInternet, to objects (domestic appliances, computers and accessories,electronic devices) which arrive at the customer by traditionaltransport routes.

[0006] In contrast to the above, institutions such as schools oruniversities, but also companies in the field of the new media, haverecourse to traditional methods for their teaching projects (passing onof information to students): learning by heart, passive classicalteaching, or card index files. These are conscious, time-consumingteaching/learning methods and static systems. Static systems, however,cannot adapt themselves to the individual learning level or to speciallearning habits of an individual person, neither can these systemsdifferentiate between persons.

[0007] Traditional learning/teaching methods are unsatisfactory fortransmitting knowledge to individual learners in an environment which isbecoming ever more complicated and acts ever more quickly. The learnerrequires simple, effective, and time-saving instruments for acquiringknowledge in times in which the factor time plays a decisive role inwork, education, and leisure.

[0008] A method of transmitting teaching materials by computer is known,for example, from DE 199 61 546. In this method, idle periods of thecomputer are utilized for displaying learning items, for examplevocabulary, to the user, and/or test the user in this respect.

[0009] It is an object of the invention to make available acomputer-aided method of transmitting teaching materials.

[0010] This object is achieved by means of a method of transmittingteaching materials by means of an electronic data network, wherein

[0011] a server computer system receives a request from a person to betaught for a teaching material via a client computer system,

[0012] the server computer system sends the teaching material to theclient computer system,

[0013] the teaching material is displayed on the client computer system,

[0014] the server computer system sends a request to the client computersystem asking whether the person to be taught wants to undergo a testwith respect to the displayed teaching material after the teachingmaterial has been displayed on the client computer system,

[0015] the person to be taught sends a reply to the server computersystem via the client computer system,

[0016] the server computer system sends test questions on the displayedteaching material to the client computer system if the person to betaught gave a positive answer,

[0017] the test questions are displayed on the client computer system,

[0018] the person to be taught sends the answers to the server computersystem via the client computer system, and

[0019] the server computer system receives the answers, evaluates them,and sends the result to the client computer system.

[0020] Teaching materials can be transmitted to a person to be taught bymeans of this method independently of time and location. The person tobe taught need not necessarily be present in a given location at a giventime, instead, the moment when he or she wants to be taught can befreely chosen and be adapted to the actual work load.

[0021] The person to be taught can test his or her knowledge with theadvantageous embodiment of claim 2 before undergoing a test as to thedisplayed teaching material.

[0022] The advantageous embodiment of claim 3 enables the operator ofthe server computer system to give incentives to the persons to betaught for carefully studying the teaching material.

[0023] The advantageous embodiment of claim 4 renders it possible forthe operator of the server computer system to update the teachingmaterials to be transmitted in a simple manner.

[0024] The electronic data network advantageously defined in claim 5enables the operator of the server computer system to select whichclient computer system he allows to participate in the method oftransmitting teaching materials.

[0025] The invention further relates to a computer system with a servercomputer system and to a server computer system, which are each designedfor

[0026] receiving a request from a person to be taught for a teachingmaterial via a client computer system,

[0027] sending the teaching material to the client computer system,

[0028] sending a request to the client computer system asking whetherthe person to be taught wants to undergo a test as to the displayedteaching material after said teaching material was sent to the clientcomputer system,

[0029] sending test questions on the displayed teaching material to theclient computer system in the case of a positive answer from the personto be taught,

[0030] receiving the answers of the person to be taught via the clientcomputer system, and

[0031] evaluating the answers and sending the result to the clientcomputer system.

[0032] Embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detailbelow with reference to the drawings, in which

[0033]FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the method according tothe invention, and

[0034]FIG. 2 is a flowchart representing a possible embodiment of a testprocedure in the method according to the invention.

[0035] The method of transmitting teaching materials preferably formspart of a learning or teaching program. The method is preferablyimplemented by means of an electronic data network and the client-servermodel. The electronic data network may be, for example, the Internet, anIntranet, for example within a company, or an Extranet.

[0036] The teaching materials to be transmitted are then present in aserver computer system and are preferably managed in databases therein.A database is a system for describing, storing, and retrievinglarge-scale data quantities which are used by several applicationprograms. Said server computer system may be operated, for example, by acompany, a university, a school, a public institution, or an academy. Aperson to be taught may come into contact with the server computersystem by means of a client computer system. The person to be taught maybe, for example, a student, a schoolboy/girl, an employee of the companyoperating the learning or teaching program, or a trader or seller ofproducts of the company operating the learning or teaching program. Theteaching materials may comprise, for example, product information,company information, information on novel developments, and school orstudy materials. Preferably, the teaching materials are subdivided intoa plurality of categories.

[0037] As FIG. 1 shows, the method according to the invention is firststarted. To this end, the person to be taught causes his client computersystem in the first step 1 to display a start page of the learning orteaching program. The start page may be, for example, a web page atwhich the person to be taught arrives via the home page of the operatorof the learning or teaching program. In the next step 2, the person tobe taught selects a category of teaching materials (AK) by sending acorresponding request to the server computer system via the clientcomputer system. Each category may comprise several sub-categories. Inthe next step 3, the teaching materials of the selected category aresent to the client computer system by the server computer system and aredisplayed (DK) on the client computer system of the person to be taught.The display of the teaching materials may take place, for example, inthe form of web pages comprising texts, graphs, pictures, animations,games, or a combination of these means. After all teaching materialsfrom the selected category has been displayed on the client computersystem, the server computer system sends a request to the person to betaught via the client computer system in the next step 4, asking whethersaid person wants to undergo a test on the selected category (P?). Ifthe person to be taught sends a negative answer, the method is concludedfor this category (F). Preferably, the person to be taught is shown thestart page of the learning or teaching program again on his clientcomputer system in that the server computer system sends the relevantweb page to the client computer system.

[0038] If the person to be taught wants to undergo a test on theselected category of teaching materials, he will enter a test region. Inthe next step 5, the test questions on the selected category of teachingmaterials are sent by the server computer system to the client computersystem and displayed there (DP), for example in the form of web pages.The questions are preferably individually displayed. The answers to thetest questions, which are sent to the server computer system, forexample in the form of web pages, are evaluated (BP) by the servercomputer system in the next step 6. In a subsequent step 7, the resultis sent by the server computer system to the client computer system anddisplayed to the person to be taught there (AEP). It may be advantageoushere that the correct answers to the test questions are not presented tothe person to be taught.

[0039] It may be advantageous to arrange the test region of the methodin the manner indicated in FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the servercomputer system transmits the question, in the step 4, whether theperson to be taught wants to undergo a test on the displayed category ofteaching materials (P?) after the teaching materials of the selectedcategory were displayed (DK) on the client computer system. If theperson to be taught sends an affirmative answer to the server computersystem, the server computer system in the next step 8 sends a secondquestion as to whether the person to be taught would like to perform aself-test first (ST?). If the person to be taught replies in thenegative to the server computer system, the definitive test questions,for example in the form of web pages, are sent to the client computersystem by the server computer system in the next step 13 and displayedon the client computer system (DFT). In the next step 14, the answers ofthe person to be taught are sent to the server computer system by theclient computer system, for example in the form of web pages, and areevaluated in the server computer system (BFT). In the next step 15, theserver computer system sends the result, for example in the form of aweb page, to the client computer system (AEFT). It may be advantageousthat the person to be taught has only one possibility for undergoing afinal test for each category of teaching materials.

[0040] If the person to be taught would like to perform a self-testfirst, however, the server computer system in a next step 9 will sendthe relevant self-test questions, for example in the form of web pages,to the client computer system, where they are displayed (DST). In thenext step 10, the answers of the person to be taught, for example in theform of web pages, are sent to the server computer system, are evaluatedby the server computer system (BST), and the result is sent to theclient computer system (AEST) in the subsequent step 11. In a next step12, the server computer system sends a further request, for example inthe form of a web page, asking whether the person to be taught wouldlike to undergo a further test (W?). If the person to be taught sends anegative answer to the server computer system, the method is ended forthis category of teaching materials (F). Preferably, the person to betaught is shown the start page of the learning or teaching program againon his client computer system. It may be preferred that, when the personto be taught answers a self-test question incorrectly, the servercomputer system sends the correct answer, for example in the form of aweb page, to the client computer system.

[0041] If the person to be taught wants to undergo a further test, hewill again be asked whether he wants to perform a self-test (ST?). If hewants to perform a further self-test, the routine described above forthe self-test (DST, BST, AEST, and W?) is performed again. If the personto be taught does not want a self-test, but the definitive test, theroutine for the test described above (DFT, BFT and AEFT) is followed.

[0042] The questions of the self-test or the definitive test may be put,for example, in the multiple choice form.

[0043] It may be preferred that the operator limits the participation inthe learning or teaching program. In this embodiment, the servercomputer system sends a web page asking for an access authorization tothe client computer system in a phase of the learning or teachingprogram. The person to be taught then enters an access code, for examplea password, given to him by the operator of the server computer system.The question as to the access authorization may be put, for example,immediately after the start of the learning or teaching program orbefore the final test can be made.

[0044] If the person to be taught cannot provide an access code, theserver computer system in a further step sends a web page with aregistration form. If the person to be taught wants to register, he willenter his data in the registration form and send it to the servercomputer system via the client computer system. After the entries havebeen positively adjudged by the operator of the server computer system,the access code is transmitted to the person to be taught, for exampleby post or by Internet. Alternatively, the person to be taught mayhimself choose a password. It is also possible for the person to betaught to send a request for a registration form to the server computersystem, whereupon the server computer system sends the web page with theregistration form.

[0045] The method of transmitting teaching materials according to theinvention in particular offers companies the possibility of training itsemployees or the vendors of its products, for example TV sets, monitors,DVD players, CD recorders, shavers, domestic appliances, etc. Thus thecompany, for example an electronics company, may offer a trainingprogram on the products of the company on its home page, for examplehitp://www.philips.de, which is marketing-oriented. This offers thecompany a possibility of training vendors and assistants for salespurposes. To give the persons to be taught an incentive to study theteaching materials carefully, it may be advantageous that the servercomputer system assigns a certain number of points to each answered testquestion in dependence on the answer of the person to be taught. Thusthe person to be taught can obtain a certain number of points for eachcorrectly answered test question. The person to be taught, who canpreferably undergo a final test in a category only once, can collect thepoints and convert them into a premium, for example a product of thecompany operating the training program. The individual test questionsmay be assigned different numbers of points in dependence on the degreeof difficulty. The person to be taught has the possibility to call uphis points score on a web page. On a further web page, the person to betaught has an opportunity of inspecting which premiums are awarded for acertain number of points.

[0046] It may be advantageous that a person to be taught is given anopportunity of undergoing a renewed final test in a given category ofteaching materials after this category has been updated by the operatorof the learning or teaching program.

1. A method of transmitting teaching materials by means of an electronicdata network, wherein a server computer system receives a request from aperson to be taught for a teaching material via a client computersystem, the server computer system sends the teaching material to theclient computer system, the teaching material is displayed on the clientcomputer system, the server computer system sends a request to theclient computer system asking whether the person to be taught wants toundergo a test with respect to the displayed teaching material after theteaching material has been displayed on the client computer system, theperson to be taught sends a reply to the server computer system via theclient computer system, the server computer system sends test questionson the displayed teaching material to the client computer system if theperson to be taught gave a positive answer, the test questions aredisplayed on the client computer system, the person to be taught sendsthe answers to the server computer system via the client computersystem, and the server computer system receives the answers, evaluatesthem, and sends the result to the client computer system.
 2. A method oftransmitting teaching materials as claimed in claim 1, characterized inthat if the person to be taught wants to undergo a test, the servercomputer system sends a further request to the client computer systemasking whether the person to be taught wants to perform a self-test onthe displayed teaching material, depending on the answer of the personto be taught, the server computer system sends self-test questions ordefinitive test questions to the client computer system, the self-testor definitive test questions are displayed on the client computersystem, the person to be taught sends the answers to the server computersystem via the client computer system, the server computer systemreceives the answers, evaluates them, and sends the result to the clientcomputer system.
 3. A method of transmitting teaching materials asclaimed in claim 1, characterized in that the server computer systemassigns a certain number of points to each answered test question independence on the answer of the person to be taught.
 4. A method oftransmitting teaching materials as claimed in claim 1, characterized inthat the teaching materials are managed in databases.
 5. A method oftransmitting teaching materials as claimed in claim 1, characterized inthat the electronic data network is the Internet, an Extranet, and/or anIntranet.
 6. A computer network with a server computer system which isdesigned for receiving a request from a person to be taught for ateaching material via a client computer system, sending the teachingmaterial to the client computer system, sending a request to the clientcomputer system asking whether the person to be taught wants to undergoa test as to the displayed teaching material after said teachingmaterial was sent to the client computer system, sending test questionson the displayed teaching material to the client computer system in thecase of a positive answer from the person to be taught, receiving theanswers of the person to be taught via the client computer system, andevaluating the answers and sending the result to the client computersystem.
 7. A server computer system which is designed for receiving arequest from a person to be taught for a teaching material via a clientcomputer system, sending the teaching material to the client computersystem, sending a request to the client computer system asking whetherthe person to be taught wants to undergo a test as to the displayedteaching material after said teaching material was sent to the clientcomputer system, sending test questions on the displayed teachingmaterial to the client computer system in the case of a positive answerfrom the person to be taught, receiving the answers of the person to betaught via the client computer system, and evaluating the answers andsending the result to the client computer system.